{"id":16933,"date":"2020-08-22T08:41:54","date_gmt":"2020-08-22T13:41:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/?p=16933"},"modified":"2020-08-22T00:06:15","modified_gmt":"2020-08-22T05:06:15","slug":"tennessee-governor-bill-lee-announces-61-million-in-emergency-broadband-grants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/2020\/08\/22\/tennessee-governor-bill-lee-announces-61-million-in-emergency-broadband-grants\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announces $61 Million in Emergency Broadband Grants"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TennesseeNashville, TN <\/strong>– Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and the Financial Stimulus Accountability Group today announced $61 million will be awarded in Tennessee Emergency Broadband Fund grants to improve access to broadband internet across the state.<\/p>\n

\"Tennessee<\/a>

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee<\/p><\/div>\n

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The grants are funded through the State\u2019s Coronavirus Relief Fund allotment from the federal government and distributed through the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe COVID-19 pandemic has only further elevated the importance of access to reliable, affordable broadband internet to facilitate telemedicine, distance learning, and telecommuting,\u201d said Governor Lee.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thank the members of our Financial Stimulus Accountability Group and the Department of Economic and Community Development for their work in distributing these funds to shovel-ready projects that will directly benefit Tennesseans,\u201d Governor Lee stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe emergence of COVID-19 greatly accelerated the need for widespread access to broadband. As all of us adjust to the new normal of social distance, technology becomes even more critical to study, work and socialize,\u201d said Lt. Gov. Randy McNally. \u201cThese dollars will allow for implementation of greatly needed projects crucial to bringing us together virtually as we strive to stay apart physically.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis $61 million investment in additional broadband grants, in conjunction with the $60 million the General Assembly has already appropriated, will continue to increase access to high speed internet services across Tennessee. Our families, schools, businesses, and health care communities will benefit from this enhanced broadband infrastructure,\u201d said House Speaker Cameron Sexton.<\/p>\n

\u201cI appreciate Governor Lee, Lt. Gov. McNally, our Accountability Group members and the General Assembly for their ongoing efforts to help strengthen Tennessee\u2019s infrastructure; we will continue working together to identify and create solutions that address both our immediate and our emerging, long-term needs,\u201d Sexton stated.<\/p>\n

ECD received 84 applications for $89.1 million in funding. Following review and a public comment period, 62 projects representing $61.1 million will be funded. The remaining $28 million in projects were denied due to a number of factors including project feasibility, applicant experience, and public comments received from existing broadband providers.<\/p>\n

Unfunded applicants will be invited to submit an application for the Tennessee Broadband Accessibility Grant Program, funded at $15 million this year, where applicants are given significantly more time to complete project builds.   <\/p>\n

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[470center]<\/p>\n

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Pursuant to federal guidelines, these projects are limited to those that would enhance access to individuals and families affected during the COVID-19 Coronaviruspandemic by the lack of broadband access in their area.<\/p>\n

Eligible entities included those authorized to provide broadband services in Tennessee, and eligible areas were limited to those unserved or underserved locations lacking all equipment necessary to provide a broadband connection capable of supporting telemedicine, distance learning, and telecommuting.<\/p>\n

More information on the Tennessee Emergency Broadband Fund can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nashville, TN – Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and the Financial Stimulus Accountability Group today announced $61 million will be awarded in Tennessee Emergency Broadband Fund grants to improve access to broadband internet across the state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[181],"tags":[12333,10444,12675,12712,1089,12651,549,284,12734,844,9518,13182,1862,233,3350],"class_list":["post-16933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government","tag-bill-lee","tag-broadband","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-grants","tag-lt-governor","tag-nashville","tag-nashville-tn","tag-pandemic","tag-randy-mcnally","tag-telemedicine","tag-tennessee-broadband-accessibility-grant","tag-tennessee-department-of-economic-and-community-development","tag-tennessee-general-assembly","tag-tennessee-governor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16933"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16934,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16933\/revisions\/16934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}